I think artisanal ciders will start becoming more and more popular, and they already have over the last few years. I like the ciders of Normandy and Quebec over Vermont/New England-style ciders, and generally over British ciders, but there are a lot of British ones I like, too. The funky ciders of the Basque region are pretty interesting, too, although a bit of an acquired taste to somebody who’s expecting a clean, sweet product like Woodchuck.
I’d be interested in seeing more brewers/cideries get into perries (pear ciders) and I would love to see some plum jerkum commercially available, just for kicks. I made a plum jerkum years ago that was pretty interesting, but the types of plums commercially available at the supermarket aren’t the best type of plums for fermenting. Warwickshire Drooper plums are the traditional plum used for this drink, but I’d be interested in trying it with the types of plums you find around the Balkans that are used for slivovica (usually, Damson plums.)
You’re speaking English, I just know it! Ha. I know jack about ciders, but (Stripes) am willing to learn. You apparently know your jargon pretty well. I’d need to google many of the terms you use just to know WTF you were referring to. And “Jerkum” made me think of “Jenkem”…decidedly NOT a cider, LOL.
I agree with pulykamell’s view on the utility of sulfites. They can be IMHO overused—J.J. Prüm comes to mind, though it’s really part of their style at this point—but I thought the agent implicated in red wine headaches was histamine, not sulfites? Accordingly, try taking an OTC antihistamine some time before your glass of red wine. I like the generic of Claritin; I don’t need the antihistamine making me drowsy along with the wine.
I think Ludovico’s on the right track with Beaujolais. Nearly every new wine drinker I’ve introduced to it, loves it. I don’t care for Nouveau–but perhaps she might like it? Villages is nice, and I haven’t explored Beaujolais enough to be able to state confidently the differences between one Cru vs another. [Edit]** FGIE**, you get a lot less of the banana thing if you avoid Dubouef’s wines. Something to do with their yeast, I guess.
Personally, I love nearly all of God’s vinous children, and it is difficult to pick one over another. It is very difficult to go wrong with any of Ridge Vineyard’s Zinfandels, provided you like Zinfandel. They are about $35 in my area for the best ones (Geyserville—I know it’s not officially a Zin, Lytton Springs, Pagani). As far as Merlot goes, lots of people like it: they just call it Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. (Cue Sideways in-joke here.) I’m kidding, of course. [Edit] I agree with Tibby about Chateau Ste. Michelle making very good ones for not much money, as well as plenty of other U.S. producers. If you’re feeling spendy, and want something from the PNW, I’ve really liked the Merlots from Andrew Will. He blends enough now, that he’s not calling them Merlot, but IIRC, Merlot’s still carrying a lot of the weight in the blend. This isn’t even getting into the Chilean/Argentinean producers, who have good quality for the money.
For less expensive wines, I’ve like a lot of the ones from Bonny Doon’s “Big House” label. They make a tasty box wine that comes out to about $5 per bottle equivalent. I wish more producers would embrace non-traditional packaging like boxes or single serving sizes like cans or juice box types. Sometimes, you just want one glass of wine. Also, let’s be honest, the vast, vast majority of wine isn’t going to be aged, and so doesn’t need the full glass bottle/cork treatment.
And as an add-on to your last sentiment…can we please do away with corks in almost all wines that aren’t Screaming Eagle cabs and 1st growth Bordeaux already? Hate it when I spend $20-30 on a bottle of good swill only to have it be corky. Its the worst.
ETA: Its not just DuBouef’s wines…I find that flavor trait to be inherent to the gamay grape. Admittedly in the relative few examples I’ve tried. Have had a couple good to great Cru Beaujolais though. Totally different animal.
Crown caps. I’ve no idea, FGIE, why the industry hasn’t gone to crown caps, and continues to screw around with screwcap/Stelvins and plastic corks. If it’s good enough to hold Champagne in cellar for X years, awaiting disgorgement, it’s good enough for Jane Consumer.
I had a book describing the travails of one German producer who tried going to crown caps and found it to be a typical early-adopter nightmare: distributors down-marketed his wine, worried consumers would think it low quality; bottling lines weren’t set up for it, dramatically increasing his capital costs. IIRC, the project was abandoned after a few years. Need to find the book…
Completely agree with you that corks need to be replaced with something else, for any wine that doesn’t rely on them to add value. Typically, that’s wine you expect to age awhile and/or that you expect to hold for investment.
TCA sucks. And though the industry has gotten much better about it, and I am holding out hope that improved processing will drive the rate of infection to the parts per thousand frequency, I’ve lost too many bottles to TCA to like corks.
This…is just sad. The level of ignorance is mind-boggling. How many taste/ageing/storage test results do these people need? Its not like we are asking the industry to eschew bottles altogether and put the wine in a box (although that area is improving as well). Traditionalists and their fucking bullshit. Seriously: you embrace modern wine techniques (stainless steel fermentation vats, mechanical harvesters, cold stabilization) but oh noes! Not a screwcap!
No, but I’ve had Crispin Glover. Fortunately he ate pineapples first.
I always do my ciders with either a basic ale yeast or champagne yeast. Depends on what I’m shooting for, quaffing or sipping. But I always wonderbra them with a little concentrate at the end for aroma and additional flavor. So far the judges have liked them.
Never done a perry. Maybe when I find a consistant source of good pears.
Old fashioned cork is inferior to the newer methods without question as far as quality for wine goes.
However, many people use the wine and cork for romance. i.e.: to get their date into the sack. And if the date doesn’t know wine, cork is far superior for that. It’s old fashioned, it makes a certain sound, it gets the smell going, it has a certain look.
With ciders, I would start with the following. (I’m not an expert by any stretch, I just enjoy my ciders and have a better palate for them than I do wines):
For Normandy cider, Dupont is the name I’m most familiar with. If you can find Etienne Cidre Reserve, pick that up. Otherwise, Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie or Etienne Dupont Organic Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie are good starts.
For Ice ciders (similar to ice wines), Quebec’s got some good offerings. I think the easiest one to find in the States is Neige by La Face Cachée de la Pomme. In fact, I believe that’s the only one exported to the States from that cidery. Here’s a bottle. It is a very interesting, sweet but flavorful cider. It is made by freezing the apple juice outside until most of the water freezes off, and then taking the concentrated juice and fermenting it.
For domestic ciders, JK Srcumpy, out of Michigan, is pretty good. Their Solstice cider, which is spiced, rates a little higher than their regular one on ratebeer.com, but I’m not a fan of flavored ciders, so I prefer their regular offering. I also find they can be quite variable in terms of sweetness, depending on what vintage it is and how long its been stored. The first few times I had it, they were almost syruppy sweet, but, lately, their product has been drier, and a bit closer to Normandy-style ciders. Whole Foods, at least around here, has their product prominently displayed everywhere.
For something a little off-the-beaten-path, Crispin’s Stagger Lee cider is fermented in rye whiskey barrels. It’s a bit too bold a whiskey flavor for me, and it is backsweetened with unfiltered apple juice, but it’s worth at least a taste.
Finding good English ciders around here is a bit tricky, but Aspall’s Medium Cider is a reasonable introduction to the style and better, in my opinion, than the Samuel Smith cider, which is also relatively easy to find.
For Basque ciders, Sarasola Sidra Natural is the one I usually find around here, but it’s still pretty difficult to find. This is quite a funky cider. If you’ve ever had an unflavored lambic or gueuze, you kind of have an idea of what to expect: a lot of funk on the nose, a bit of a pickly sourness to the taste, lively, acidic, etc. I find it very refreshing and a nice change-of-pace from the more “refined” ciders, but I’m someone who loves sour beers.
I’m sure the judges love them, but it depends on what they’re expecting out of a cider. My personal tastes usually don’t align with what ends up winning judged food and drink competitions. I swear, I’ve been to too many ribfests where what I think is the absolute worst ribs in the show–boiled and slathered in barbecue sauce–win. American drink tastes tend to favor the overly aggressive flavors, too, in my opinion.
I find champagne yeast terrible for cider. It just chews through everything and leaves you with something with almost no flavor so, yeah, you gotta backsweeten it. Natural yeasts seem not to ferment out quite aggressively. There’s a lot of fruit left on the nose. It’s still pretty dry, though. Also, if you keeve your cider, you can leave in a good amount of residual sweetness without having to resort to sulfiting or sorbating at the end.
I’ve always let my ciders ferment all the way out, but next time I get around to cidering, I’m going to hold back at least one or two 3-gallon carboys and sulfite/sorbate them at 1.005 - 1.010, just to see what happens.
I had tried several different varieties before I tried Gamay, but I agree that it may be the best wine for new wine drinkers because it tastes exactly like what I thought wine would taste like before I ever had wine. (I also don’t like DuBouef because they seem more pulpy and less smooth than other Beaujolais.)
Obviously not a red, but Chateau St. Michelle makes good stuff for not a lot of money. They have the best Gewurztraminer I’ve ever had, but that’s strictly for Thanksgiving and Christmastime.
In the summer I usually prefer sauvignon blancs: cold, light, and refreshing.
The rest of the year is pretty much malbec, merlot, and carmenere.
I, too, favor fruity jammy reds. Not so big though. I want them round and a little mellow. California Zinfandel, Australian shiraz, Petite Syrah, Sangiovese, Claret.
I tend not to like merlot, merlot blends, cabernet sauvignon, cab franc. Can’t stand malbec.
Cheap: Almaden merlot. Nothing better in that price range. Try it at the same time as a rich dark chocolate, which brings out a panoply of berry flavors.
Middle: Ecco Domani merlot, which is powerful, dark, and ultra-dry.
Expensive: Chianti classico denominazione di origine controllata e garantita. Nothing like it in the world.
Have you ever tried a Gewurtz from Alsace? Weinbach and Zind Humbrecht are two producers I would recommend. But beware: Alsatian wines are pricey.
Do you realize that claret often contains significant quantities of merlot (or is sometimes 100% merlot)? Claret is just another (English) term for Bordeaux wines, and the five permitted grapes that can be grown are cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petite verdot and malbec. Most of the plantings are merlot and cabernet sauvignon. To be fair, bordeaux wines are a different style than say, California Merlot or Cabernet. Elegance over power and all that.